Counting Stars
by ILikeHotDogs
Summary: Name sucks. I was listening to Counting Stars by One Republic and couldn't think of a better name. A saber tooth tiger Faunus. The last of his kind, raised by an abusive uncle and kidnapped by the White Fang to be trained to be a living weapon. After escaping his captors, Nacht lives in the forest before being found by Goodwitch and accepted into Beacon. Sorry, suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 __ _I'm sitting in the back of my parents car. Feeling the familiar soft leather under my fingertips, I look around._

 _My dad is driving, his black hair still as messy as always. His gray eyes focused on the road. My mom is looking back at me from the passenger side, smiling that familiar smile, showing her longer and sharper than normal canine teeth. Her green cat like eyes sparkling like emeralds, her orange-red tiger ears, same color as her hair, twitching at every sound._

 _I look out the window to see the buildings of downtown Vale zooming by. People going about their day. A guy talking on a cellphone in a business suit. A woman with a baby stroller and headphones on jogging. A teenage couple walking hand in hand, chatting without a care in the world._

 _I smile at all this. Everything so serene, peaceful. I want this to last forever. Just my mom, dad, and me. Everyone happy._

 _Suddenly, my dad swerves sharply and something smashes into the side of the car, sending us rolling onto the sidewalk and causing me to bash my head off anything I can bash my head off of in a car._

 _When we finally stop rolling, my head is bleeding and I'm barely conscious. I look around again and see my parents in worse shape than I am. My dad is unconscious, bleeding badly from the head, left arm twisted in ways that aren't healthy. My mom is the worse though. She too is unconscious and bleeding heavily from the head, but what really horrifies me, is that her entire left side looks more like ground meat, fresh from the grinder than a part of a human- or faunus, in her case- body._

 _Before I could dwell on it anymore, a familiar smell hits my nose._

' _Gasoline…' I think. Completely terrified._

 _I start to panic. I don't want to die. I want to grow up and go to combat school and become a Huntsman and have a family. I want to see the happiness in my mother's eyes when I get married and again when she holds her first grandchild, I want to see the proud look in my father's eyes when I graduate from Beacon._

' _Maybe my Aura will protect me,' I think 'no… I don't think that'll protect me from the explosion. Maybe if I wasn't in the center of it.'_

 _My mom is a Huntress and she unlocked my Aura at a young age, hoping she could start my training early. And she has. For the past 3 years, since I was 5, she has been training me on how to use war axes just like her and a few Aura strengthening techniques she found in some old tombs in some ruins she found while on a mission._

 _I sigh 'Well, at least I get to die with my parents.' I think._

 _Suddenly, the world around me seems to blink out for a second before everything comes back into focus. I look around before my eyes widen in shock._

 _I'm on the sidewalk, across the street from our car and my parents._

 _I start to get up to try and get my parents out only to get blown back to the ground by an explosion and a wave of hot air blasting me back._

" _MOM! DAD! NOOOOOOO-"_

 **LINE BREAK- LINE BREAK- LINE BREAK- LINE BREAK**

"-OOOOOOO!" I shoot straight up in my makeshift bed, screaming, and in a cold sweat.

I take a few deep breaths trying to calm my heart, which is beating so fast you'd think I've been sprinting up hill with half a dozen Ursa Majors and a Deathstalker chasing me. I lean back against the cool stone wall of my cave and close my eyes.

Ever since that day I have been having nightmares. I would wake up screaming in a cold sweat. Though before I ran away, me screaming would end in a beating or maybe a whipping. Depending on what my uncle's mood was.

After the accident, I was given to my closest living relative, my uncle on my dad's side. Now my dad was human and my mom was faunus. My dad came from one of the many racist families in Vale and my mom was one of the last of the Saber Tooth Tiger faunus, a title that went to me after she died, as I took after her more than dad.

I have my mom's tiger ears as well as her eyes and teeth. I also have the physical strength of the biggest feline predator, who use to hunt and kill mammoths, to walk Remnant. Meaning I'm stronger than the average human as well as most faunus. I have my dad's messy black hair as well as his height and build. My dad was a big guy, standing at 6"4 and built like a tank with broad shoulders and arms the size of tree trunks. I stand at 6"3 with broad shoulders but I'm somewhere in between my mom's runners build and my dad's tank like build.

My uncle was abusive. Incredibly so. Before I escaped and ran away, every day after school I would come back to the house- I will never call that place home- and he would grab me by my tiger ears as soon as I walked in the door, drag me to the basement, tie me to the wall, then whip me with a bullwhip while insulting me. Saying I'm a no good freak, I'm nothing but a dirty animal, insulting my parents, blaming me for anything that goes wrong in his life, things like that.

After suffering at the hands of my uncle for 5 years, I snapped. I walked in the door after school one afternoon and before he could blindside me like he usually does, I kicked him in the balls. And I kicked him as hard as I could, which considering what I am must have been very, very painful. I'm pretty sure I did some permanent damage too.

He fell to the ground with a thud, holding his junk and screaming like a little girl. I just laughed at him and punched him in the head, knocking him out. After that I ran through the house taking anything of value that I could sell. I had even broke into the safe under the couch, built into the floor.

Apparently my "uncle" didn't believe in banks because let me tell you, that safe was full of Lien. I even found my mom's old war axe blueprints. I don't know why he kept them, but I am grateful.

So anyway, the first thing I did was go to the local gunsmith and gave him the blueprints, asking him to make me two of them( **A/N I don't know what age you can own a weapon in RWBY, so just roll with it)**. When he asked if I had the Lien to pay for the job, I just opened the large duffle on my shoulder and showed him the money. He just walked in back without another word.

It took about half a day for him to finish the axes. The axes were, and still are, beautiful. Dust infused black steel glistening in the sun, razor sharp edge ready to hack an enemy to death in a gruesome way, armor piercing spike on the end ready to punch a hole in the enemy( **A/N: look up ebony war axe from Skyrim)**.

But what had really surprised me that day was when he told me to press the buttons on the handles and when I did, they turned into two high caliber pistols. I had thanked him profusely and payed him a little extra. It cost me over ¾ my funds but it was worth it.

But like all good things, that day had to end. As I was walking back to my hotel that night, I was busy admiring my new war axes and I wasn't really paying attention to the world around me. I had walked into an alley to take a shortcut to the hotel when I felt a sharp prick in the back of my neck. I turned around and the last thing I saw before the darkness was a white Grimm mask.

I had woken up sometime later in a dark room strapped to a lab table. There I sat for a few hours before a door on the far side of the room had opened up and lights had turned on. An owl faunus walked into the now well lit lab room baring the White Fang symbol on his lab coat. He had told me that a long time ago, before the Saber Tooth Tiger faunus started to die off, that they were the fiercest and most skilled warriors you could possibly find. They were the only type faunus that the humans had left alone during and before the Great War, and that they made their home in a forest, the Silva forest, the Forest of Silver. Which was where they made the bunker I was at. The exact location of the village has long since been lost to time. All anyone knows is that it's somewhere in the Silva forest, and anyone who has tried to find it are never seen again. The White Fang wanted that strength, and they would stop at nothing to get it.

So began the worst 3 years of my life. Even beating the years I lived with my uncle. They experimented on me, attempted to brainwash me. But all that did was make me stronger and added fuel to the fire of hatred that burned in me towards the White Fang.

They had also trained me. On how to use my war axes,- which I named Dusk and Dawn- my semblance, hand-to-hand, and pretty much anything they needed to make the perfect living weapon. My semblance is the ability to teleport anyone or anything anywhere, including me. I call it Blinking. **(A/N: Free cookies to anyone who gets the reference!)**

I had waited. Waited and planned. Waited for the moment to strike. And finally, after three years, three long years of torture, of suffering, the moment came.

The White Fang had sent a rookie to escort me from my cell and to the lab. The rat faunus had made one mistake, one rookie mistake that cost him his life. He put normal handcuffs on me, not the specialized reinforced handcuffs needed to hold me.

I had snapped them as if they were made of plastic and then snapped the rat's neck just as easily. After that I had stealthily made my way through the complex, towards the armory where they kept Dusk and Dawn. Silent as a shadow, killing any guard that got in my way without remorse. When I had gotten to the armory, I killed the guard standing by the door and had taken his key.

After I had gotten Dusk and Dawn, I let out all the anger, the hatred, the fury I have had built up ever since the car accident that killed my parents. I had killed every living thing in that underground bunker.

Afterwards I had raided the armory of all dust rounds for Dusk and Dawn and left the bunker. Ever since then I have been living off the land of my ancestors. Hunting animals and gathering herbs and plants for my food, clearing out Grimm in mass quantities in an effort to keep my home safe and to honor my ancestors by cleansing the darkness from their land, and killing any White Fang that enters the forest.

I'm brought out of my musing by the growling of Beowulf's and the sound of fighting. I shoot up out of my bedding and throw on the leather armor I made awhile back as well as my Biowulf skin hood made from the pelt of the first Grimm I killed. I grab Dusk and Dawn and sprint out of my cave and towards the sound of fighting.

Hopefully it's just the White Fang.

 **Goodwitch POV**

I grunt as I throw another Biowulf through a tree with a flick of my wrist and impale another on a spike of ice. I have been fighting this particully large pack of Biowulfs for a while now, and I'm starting to get annoyed with the seemingly never ending torrent of Grimm. I was sent here by Ozpin to investigate the drastic decrease of Grimm in the area.

Drastic decrease of Grimm my ass.

As soon as I was dropped off into the Forest of Silver I was attacked. As I cooked another pair of Biowulfs with a torrent of flames, a pair of Ursa and an Ursa Major burst through the treeline and into the clearing. I hold my riding crop in front of me but instead of attacking me like I thought they would, they ran right past me as if I wasn't there. It's like they were running from something

Then I heard it.

A growl, not unlike that of a lion or tiger, echoed throughout the clearing. It was loud, and menacing, deep and deadly. It sent a small twinge of fear down my spine.

Almost instantly, all the Biowulfs in the clearing stopped attacking me and turned towards where the sound came from. They crouched low to the ground on all fours, tail between their legs and growling, slowly backing away from the sound. I turned towards where it came from as well, my riding crop at the ready. What I saw caused me to start backing away as well.

A single pair of glowing green cat eyes were staring back at me through the silver of the tree line, shrouded in darkness.

Before the Biowulfs could run off, a black blur flew past me. The sound of metal slicing through skin and bone and the growls and yelps of dying Biowulfs filled the clearing as I turned around.

I could feel my eyes widen at the sight before me. There, hacking through dozens of Biowulfs with brutal efficiency, was a young man. He's wearing dark blue, handmade, leather armor with bone plating covering all his body's vital areas as well as a black hood made from a Biowulf pelt, the head of which being the hood. He's wielding two beautifully crafted pitch black war axes with an armor piercing spike behind the main blade, as well as a much smaller spike on the bottom of the handle as well as the top, with strange symbols running along the main blade as well as the spike.

I watch as he buries the axe in his right hand into the head of one Biowulf while shooting another with a large pistol that the axe in his left hand seemingly turned into magicly, it's head exploding in a mess of gore. He rips his right axe out of the, now dead, Biowulf's head just in time to parry a swing aimed at his head by another by cutting off it's arm, before decapitating the wolf like Grimm with the left. He disappears with a dull flash of light just in time to avoid a fourth Biowulf's snap at his neck, only to reappear in the same manner behind the bloodthirsty beast, burying one of his axes in it's spine.

I watch, mesmerized, as he systematically slaughters the remaining Biowulfs. Severed limbs falling to the ground with meaty thuds as he savagely hacks them to pieces. Soon, all the Grimm in the clearing are either dead or dying, all dismembered.

Slowly, the man turns to me and starts to make his way towards me. As he gets closer, I notice that he is a lot younger than I first thought, around 16 or 17 maybe. He is also much taller, almost as tall as Ozpin. He's also a Faunus. That didn't surprise me though. I knew as soon as I saw the cat eyes. He has black, messy hair with tiger ears of similar color on top of his head. His slightly glowing emerald green cat eyes seem... Familiar, some how. I raise my riding crop as he approaches, causing him to chuckle slightly, flashing a pair of long, thick, sharp-looking fangs, in response. My eyes widen in shock as I see a familiar emblem drawn in white on his armor.

It was a saber-tooth tiger. I haven't seen that emblem in close to 9 years. It belonged to my best friend and one of the best and most powerful Huntress to graduate from Beacon in close to 50 years. Her name was Larain Blau, formerly Scitis and she was a saber-tooth tiger Faunus. Her skills with dual wield war axes were second to none and her skills in combat were second only to Ozpin and on par with Qrow and I. And her with semblance of controlling the earth( **A/N: Earthbending)** she made a formidable opponent to face. When she was killed in a car crash with her husband 9 years ago, I was devastated. Her son, also a Faunus, was sent to live with her husband's brother, where he lived for 5 years, before he disappeared without a trace.

I'm brought out of my shocked state by the man.

"A Huntress? Well, that's new. Usually it's the White Fang." His voice is just as deep and dangerous sounding as his growl.

Forcing down my shock, I set my face in it's usual stern expression saying "I was sent here to investigate the decrease of Grimm in the area. I take it that was your doing?"

"Indeed," he replied "this is my home, and the home of my ancestors. I will kill anyone, or anything, that tries to damage it. Be it the Grimm, or the White Fang."

I nod. If he is who I think he is, then I'm not surprised. His mother was the same way. "I used to know someone like that. Can I get your name?" I ask

"Nacht Blau. And you are?" the tall Faunus replies rather gruffly.

"I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch, from Beacon Academy, Mr. Blau. And I think I know someone who will want to speak with you. Are you willing to come with me?" I respond

Nacht looks thoughtful for a second before he nods. I let a small smile play onto my face before I call for extraction.

 _Larain, I'm bringing your child home_

 **LINE BREAK- LINE BREAK- LINE BREAK- LINE BREAK**

 **Nacht POV**

I whistle lowly in amazement as Beacon comes into view of the window looking out of the Bullhead. It is just as impressive as mom said it would be. It has always been my dream to attend Beacon. Before this I had long since given up that dream. I already know it's the headmaster that Professor Goodwitch says would want to speak with me. Just like I already know she somehow recorded my slaughter of those Grimm in the clearing. I haven't figured how she did that yet, but I know she did.

Once we land, we start to make our way to the giant clock tower that is, supposedly, the headmasters office. We step into an elevator and I watch as she presses the button to the top of the clock tower. We ride to the top in silence, with her sneaking glances at me when she thinks I'm not looking. I ignore her.

We get to the top and I blink in surprise. The headmaster's office is literally the top of the clock tower. As in, the clock part. The inner workings of the clock visible, with moving gears and the tick tock of a clock. In my opinion, the constant ticking is kinda annoying, but that's just me. Sitting at a large desk by an even larger window, is a tall man with silver hair, wearing glasses to small to be of any actual use with darkened lenses and a cup of coffee in one hand. He looks up from his paperwork as we enter and gazes at me curiously

"Professor Ozpin," the silver haired man looks to his blonde haired colleague "you might want to see this."

She then pulls a small chip from… Somewhere and inserts it into her scroll. She pulls up the video of the fight in the Silva Forest and the conversation afterwards and thrusts the device into his face.

His face betrays nothing as he watches the video beyond a raised eyebrow at the skill displayed and a slight widening of the eyes at my name. I'm not to surprised at that. My mom was a powerful and skilled Huntress and her name is most likely well known among the older Huntsman and Huntresses.

At the end of the video, Ozpin hands the scroll back to Professor Goodwitch and turns his attention to me. "Would you mind telling me where you learned to fight like that, Mr. Blau?" He asks.

"That's… Personal, Headmaster." I reply.

I keep my face in an emotionless mask as we silently stare at each other, his calm eyes locked onto my blank ones. Finally, after five minutes of silent staring, he slowly nods.

"Alright," he says "I have a proposition for you."

I raise an eyebrow at the silver haired professor and tilt my head down a bit, silently telling him to go on.

"How would you like," he pauses, for dramatic effect, I'm guessing, "to become a student, here, at Beacon Academy?"

I let my mask slip for a second and let my excitement shine through. I can feel the glow in my eyes intensify. And judging by the startled look on Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch's face, they notice it too. I nod with a smirk.

"I would be honored, headmaster." I say, the glow in my eyes dimming back down slightly.

He nods with a smile. "Do you have anything back in the forest that we need to get?" he asks.

"No," I reply "I own nothing except Dusk and Dawn." At Ozpin's questioning look I take out Dusk.

"This Is Dusk," I say "one of my two war axes." He nods.

"They are very beautifully made." he says.

I smile slightly, "They are."

"If you don't mind me asking," Ozpin says "what do the symbols on the blade mean?"

"They mean "Dusk" in in the ancient language of my ancestors." I reply softly, running my index finger across the symbols. "My mother taught me how to speak and write it before she died."

Professor Goodwitch looks down at the ground at the mention of my mother while Ozpin's eyes briefly flash with sadness.

"Your mother was an amazing woman and a powerful Huntress, Mr. Blau." he spoke softly.

I look up from Dusk, my eyes glowing brightly with determination, "I know, and I'm going to make her proud by becoming the best Huntsman of my generation, and by protecting Remnant from all threats. Be it Grimm, or the White Fang."

Ozpin smiles and nods his head, "I wish you luck then. But right now, I'm guessing you need clothes."

"It seems so," I say, my emotionless mask falling back into place, "If I could borrow some Lein, I could head to Vale and buy myself some clothes as well as some supplies to make myself some new armor."

"Very well," he says "the other first year students are coming today as well. You can ride with them on the way back. I suggest you hurry in making your new set of armor. Initiation is tomorrow. There will be a Bullhead waiting for you on the landing platform."

I nod my head, "Thank you Headmaster." I take the money from Ozpin and make my start to walk towards the elevator.

"And Mr, Blau," I hear him say behind me. I stop and turn my head to look over my shoulder, "welcome to Beacon."

 **A/N: I'm back bitches! I deleted my other fic cause I didn't like how it was going. There will be a rewrite for those of you who liked it. So, on other news, new fanfic. I've decided to write this, because I wanted to. But I had help with this one. I would like to thank my friend Fallen Shadow69 for his help. And Shadow, you did help. Don't try to deny it you stubborn bastard. If you haven't read his stories you really should. They are really fucking good. This is going to be an OC/Pyrrah/Ruby fic. And Jaune is not going to exist in this fic. Nacht is replacing him. For those of you who don't like it, you can go fuck yourselves, cause I don't give two shits whether you like it or not. Updates are going to be slow cause I have work and I'm a really busy person who doesn't have much time to write. And I have a kickboxing tournament in a month, so I have to train for that. I'll try to get out chapters monthly, but my success in that will be limited. Hell, this chapter was supposed to be 8000 word but I really just wanted to get this out so I stuck with half that. Follow, Favorite, and Review to give me inspiration to write. This is everyone's favorite insane hotdog lover, signing off.**

 **H.D.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I sit in the Bullhead on the way back to Beacon in my improved armor, tuning my new guitar. I didn't do much to my armor, just replaced the leather with something of higher quality and the bone parts with some Dust infused titanium. Slightly more expensive than steel but lighter and stronger.

As for the guitar, well, my dad had started teaching me to play at five, around the same time my mom had unlocked my Aura. By the time he died, I had become quite adept at it. It was the only thing my uncle and the Fang let me keep practicing. I think they liked the tunes. Unfortunately, I left my old guitar at the White Fang bunker when I escaped.

Sitting next to me, repeatedly switching Dusk from axe form to pistol form, is a small crimson haired girl wearing a red hood, by the name of Ruby Rose. I met her while boarding. She saw Dusk and Dawn and attached herself to my leg, talking a mile a second. I just sort of looked at her, shrugged, and continued onto the Bullhead. Luckily, her sister, a tall, muscular, blonde came over and peeled her off my leg. She got Ruby to ask me politely if she could see my weapons.

Ruby continues to stare intently at Dusk as she once again switched it from a war axe to a pistol, "How does it do that," she muttered to herself, "I just don't see how it can switch. There is no visible gun barrel nor is there a place for the ammunition to be stored in it's axe form..."

"I don't even know how they do that Red. And I've been using them for years." I tell her as I once again ignore her sister's, whose name's Yang apparently, shameless flirting.

"Why don't you go ask the weaponsmith who made them for you?" Yang asks, frowning slightly, probably from me ignoring her flirting.

"I did. It was closed down, Damn shame too. That place made some fine quality weapons." I reply, shaking my head slightly, turning back to my guitar.

I play a small tune to test how it sounds. I nod, sounds good. Satisfied, I put the stringed instrument back in it's case.

"You any good with that thing?" I hear Yang ask.

I throw a small glare in her direction, and let a tiny smirk slip through my mask of indifference when I see her flinch a little, "I would hope so. I have been playing since I was five."

Ruby looks up from Dusk, "Can you play something for us?"

I look over to her, "Maybe when we get to Beacon." I reply.

She nods and opens her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a hologram of Professor Goodwitch.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

And with that the hologram disappeared. Ruby and Yang rush over to the window, 'oooh ing and awww ing. I just roll my eyes, putting Dusk back in it's sheath. I pull my hood over my head and stand up, rolling my shoulders in preparation.

When we finally land, I take off, walking in long, powerful strides, wanting to get to the auditorium as soon as possible. I'm about halfway there when I hear an explosion coming from the docks. My eyes widen as I quickly turn on my heel and sprint back.

 **LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK**

 **Ruby POV**

I flinch as the small girl in white starts to screech at me again. I haven't been here for more than five minutes and things are already going to shit. Nacht disappeared, Yang abandoned me, I tripped over some snobby girl's luggage, gotten screamed at by said snobby girl, then blown up. Now here I am getting screamed at again. It's starting to give me a headache. I open my mouth to yell back, only for the words to die in my mouth. I look up at the familiar, intimidating, towering form of Nacht as he walks up behind the much shorter girl in white. The white haired girl, once she noticed that I'm looking at something over her shoulder, turns around, only to be looking straight at an armored, broad chest. She slowly looks up, paling slightly at the glowing green eyes glaring down at her.

"Is there a problem here Ruby?" He asks, his voice a low, menacing, growl. I see his hands twitch towards his axes.

I shake my head, both to shake out the cobwebs and in response to his question, "No, we're good Nacht. This was all just a misunderstanding, right Princess?"

Before she could respond, another voice spoke up, "Its heiress, actually," We all turn to face this new person. The owner of the voice is a female wearing mostly black, with black hair, amber eyes, and a black bow on her head, "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

The newly named Weiss shakes her head also and puts on a smug face, "Finally, some recognition!"

The girl in black smirks and begins to list off everything the company has done wrong. Throughout all this, I notice Nacht glaring at the girl with a look of intense rage. Before I can ask him what's wrong, he shoots forward, grabbing the black haired girl by the throat and disappearing in a dull flash of light.

I turn back to Weiss, only to find her storming off. I sigh, I guess I should start making my way towards the auditorium. Alone. Again.

 **LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK**

 **Third Person POV**

Nacht is pissed. No, beyond pissed. He's absolutely _livid_! _His_ partner is here. _Adam_ … The one who authorized his imprisonment, his torture. Nacht and Blake appear on the roof, with Nacht slamming Blake into the door, nearly tearing it off it's hinges.

"Hello Blake. Long time no see." Nacht says casually, putting Dawn in it's pistol from under her chin.

Blake is terrified. She's being held by her throat against a door, with a very familiar and large pistol under her chin, staring into a pair of very angry looking glowing green eyes, also very familiar.

"Tell me Blake," he says, a dangerous glint entering his eyes, "where is Adam, and what is he planning here? I have a score to settle with him."

Now Blake is pretty good in a fight. She hadn't been one of the top ranking members of the White Fang for nothing, but she had read the reports of what happened to the troops in the Silva Forest. Both from the bunker, and the scout groups. Let's skip the details and just say it was messy. This man is one of the two men she never wishes to meet on the battlefield, the other being Adam.

"I-I-I don't know!" Blake yells back desperately, "I-I-"

"You don't know!?" Nacht shouts back, throwing her to the ground, putting a foot on her chest and Dawn on her forehead, "You are his FUCKING partner! How do you-"

"I left okay!" She cuts him off, then says more softly, "I left the Fang…"

Nacht freezes, Looking down into her eyes, searching for any kind of deceit. Slowly, he removes his foot, and sheaths Dawn. Blake just lays there, her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face.

Nacht looks at her one more time, "I'll be watching you, Belladonna. Step one foot out of line, and I'll end you. Got it?"

At her nod, he disappears in a flash of light. Blake lays there for another ten minutes, before finally getting up and heading to the auditorium.

 **LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK**

 **Nacht POV**

I Blink back into the auditorium just in time to hear Professor Goodwitch tell us that we are going to be sleeping in the ballroom tonight. I follow the other Beacon hopefuls into a large room with sleeping bags all over the floor. I take one close to the window. I sit down on my sleeping bag and take out my guitar, strumming gently, testing how it sounds. I nod to myself and place it against the wall. I then take Dusk and Dawn out along with a cleaning rag.

I'm just about to start cleaning them when I hear someone sit down next to me. I crack a small smile when the sweet scent of roses and cookies invade my sense of smell. I don't know how, but the young reaper has already gotten past my walls.

"Hello Ruby,' I say without looking up.

"Heya Nacht!" she says cheerfully "Whatcha doin'?"

"Cleaning Dusk and Dawn," I reply "Haven't in a few days."

"Weren't you supposed to put those into your assigned locker?" Yang asks as she flops down on my other side.

I look at her, my eyes flashing dangerously, "I don't part from my weapons, nor does anyone take them from me," I growl.

She flinches and scoots away slightly, nodding rapidly.

My eyes soften and I go back to cleaning Dawn, "Sorry, I'm just not comfortable parting with them. Ruby is lucky I'm even letting her touch them," I say "Speaking of, would you like to help me clean Dusk and Dawn Ruby?"

Her face lights up and she nods enthusiastically. I hand her Dusk, a rag, and some cleaning solution. I watch as she rubs the solution onto Dusk so gently, you'd think she's rubbing baby oil onto a baby, her silver eyes sparkling with happiness. I smirk and shake my head, amused.

I place Dawn next to my guitar case, the light shining off the blade. I lean against the wall and close my eyes, my arms folded on my chest.

"Hey Nacht," says Yang, "We are at Beacon, can you play something for us now?"

I keep my eyes closed, thinking. Should I? I don't really see much harm in it. And I did say I would… I nod my head. "Sure"

I lean forward and grab my case, taking out my guitar. I lean back, strumming a few time while think of what to play. I finally settle on one of my mom's favorites, the first song my dad taught me to play.

I begin to play, My calloused fingers dancing over the strings. A familiar tune began to flow through the large room, everyone going silent. I then start to sing,

 _When the days are cold_

 _And the cards all fold_

 _And the saints we see are all made of gold,_

 _When your dreams all fail_

 _And ones we hail are the worst, of all_

 _And the blood's run stale,_

 _I wanna hide the truth_

 _I wanna shelter you_

 _But with the beast inside_

 _There's nowhere we can hide_

 _No matter what we breed_

 _We still are made of greed_

 _This is my kingdom come_

 _This is my kingdom come_

 _When you feel my heat_

 _Look into my eyes_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _Don't get to close_

 _It's dark inside_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _When the curtains call_

 _Is the last of all_

 _When the lights fade out_

 _All the sinners crawl_

 _So they dug your grave_

 _And the masquerade_

 _Will come calling out_

 _At the mess you made_

 _Don't want to let you down_

 _But I am, Hell bound_

 _Though this is all for you_

 _Don't wanna hide the truth_

 _No matter what we breed_

 _We still are made of greed_

 _This is my kingdom come_

 _This is my kingdom come_

 _When you feel my heat_

 _Look into my eyes_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _Don't get to close_

 _It's dark inside_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _They say it's you make_

 _I say it's up to fate_

 _It's woven in my soul_

 _I need to let you go_

 _Your eyes they shine so bright_

 _I wanna save that light_

 _I can't escape this now_

 _Unless you show me how_

 _When you feel my heat_

 _Look into my eyes_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _Don't get to close_

 _It's dark inside_

 _It's where my demons hide_

 _It's where my demons hide_

I finish the last verse with one last strum of my guitar. I sigh and open my eyes. At first, there was nothing but silence. Then, slowly, one by one, everyone starts to clap until everyone is cheering and clapping.

"That was amazing Nacht!" Yells Ruby, bouncing in place as she claps excitedly.

Yang nods and claps me on the back with a smile, "Yeah! That was great! You're going to have to do that for us again." Ruby nods excitedly in agreement

I put away my guitar and nod at the sisters with a smile, a genuine smile. A smile that quickly fades when I spot a pair of amber eyes staring at me from across the room, a wide range of emotions swimming in them. The most prominent one being regret. I frown, maybe I had been a little hard on her.

I shake my head and stand up ' _I need some air'_.

I take Dusk from Ruby and pick up Dawn. I sheath them and walk towards the door.

"Hey, where you goin'!" Yang calls after me.

"To get some air," I say over my shoulder "I'll be back in a minute."

I make my way out to the cliff that overlooks the Emerald Forest. I sit down, letting my legs hang over the edge. I stare out at the seemingly never ending expanse of forest below me, illuminated by the light of the shattered moon. I think about everything that has transpired in the past twenty four hours. Saving a Huntress from a large pack of Beowolves, getting accepted into Beacon academy, making two new friends in the form of a small girl in a red hood and her older sister, running into a person from my past, nearly killing said person, Hell, I even played my guitar in front of a large crowd of people, something I've never done. One or two people, sure. Not an entire crowd. I'm so lost in thought that I almost don't notice the nearly silent footsteps coming towards me.

Almost.

I shoot to my feet, Dusk and Dawn in my hands in pistol form. I spin around, bringing the large pistols to bear. Standing about 10 feet away from me, with wide eyes, is a human girl. She's fairly tall, I'd say about 5"10, maybe 5"11, with deep red hair and eyes just as green as mine. She wears a brown and gold tube top type thing with a short skirt and boots. She stands frozen, one foot in front of the other, a hand slowly reaching for a weapon which isn't there.

I sigh and shake my head, scowling slightly. I sheathe Dusk and Dawn and turn back to the forest. Sitting back down, I don't say anything when I feel her sit down next to me. We sit in silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say.

Finally, she breaks the silence, "Sorry for startling you. I saw you walking out of the the ballroom and thought you might want some company."

I just nod my head in response.

She shifts awkwardly for a second before speaking again, "You were amazing earlier, by the way." She says, "I've only ever heard anything that good on the radio."

At that I smile, "Thank you miss…" I trail off, looking at the girl expectantly.

Her eyes widen in surprise before she smiles, "My name is Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos." She says.

"Nacht Blau." I say with a nod.

Her eyes widen again, "Blau, as in Larain Blau, legendary Huntress, and 4 time winner of the Vytal Tournament?" She asks excitedly, her eyes lighting up as she bounces in place, in a way that's not unlike Ruby.

"Yes, that's my mother…" I say slowly, raising an eyebrow at her

She stops bouncing and blushes, "Sorry, it's just that Larain Blau was my idol growing up. She was my hero. She's the one who inspired me to become a huntress. I cried for days when I heard she died."

"She was my hero too," I say, smiling sadly.

She smiles back. I look back towards the forest with a sigh. We sit in silence for a few more minutes before I get up.

"I'm heading back in," I say, "You coming?"

She nods her head and I help her up. We make it back to the ballroom without a word. I bid Pyrrha goodnight and walk back to my sleeping bag, Yang and Ruby are already asleep. I slip my armor off, leaving me in a white tank top and a pair of dark blue boxer shorts. I put my armor next to my guitar case along with Dusk. I always keep Dawn with me when I sleep. It's a habit.

I slip into my sleeping bag with a sigh, It's going to be a busy day tomorrow.

 **LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK-LINE BREAK**

I shoot up out of my sleeping bag, covered in a cold sweat, with Dawn in axe form held in a defensive position. My eyes, wide and glowing with panic and a slight bit of anger, dart around the room, my breath coming out in ragged pants. Slowly, I calm my breath. I take in the site and sounds of the sleeping teenagers laying around the room and relax my stance.

I sit back down with a sigh, putting both hands up to my face. Nightmare. This one about my uncle. More specifically, about a particularly bad whipping from when I was 9. I wince a little when one of the many scars on my back start to burn while remembering that.

"Nacht?" A small, high pitched voice says from beside me. I look to my left to see a pair of silver eyes looking at me with concern.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asks, her voice just as concerned as her eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm okay. Just a nightmare." I say with a sigh. Dragging my hands down my face, I get up and stretch. I look outside, seeing that the sun's not even up yet, I look down at Ruby, "Why are you up?"

She gets out of her sleeping bag with a yawn and raises her arms in a huge stretch, "You were thrashing around in your sleep. I was about to wake you up when you shot up, looking like you were about to kill somebody." she says, "You wanna talk about it?"

I shake my head, "No, but thank you for your concern." I say with a small smile in her direction.

Ruby smiles brightly back in return. Grabbing her combat gear and some clothes, she heads to the door, "I'm going to go take a shower and then grab some breakfast. Wanna eat with me?" She asks over her shoulder.

I nod my head and grab my armor and clothes before following her to the door. We walk to the showers in a comfortable silence. Well, I'm silent. Ruby is chattering on about what we are doing for initiation, about who her partner and teammates are going to be, how she can't wait to be able to use her "sweetheart", stuff like that.

"What about you Nacht?" Ruby asks, "Who do you hope your partner is going to be?"

I shrug, "I don't know. Yang or you. Maybe Pyrrha."

She beams at me when I say her name. I give a small smile back. The small redhead really has gotten past my walls.

We arrive at the showers shortly after that. Ruby gives me a wave before she skips into the showers. I also make my way in. twenty minutes later, I'm standing outside the lunchroom, fully armored, with my hood on and Dusk and Dawn sheathed at my sides, leaning on the door, waiting patiently for Ruby.

It's not long before I see the young hooded girl bouncing down the hall towards me, dragging a still half-asleep, protesting Yang behind her. As they get closer, I can hear Yang complain about being woken up at "O'dark thirty" in the morning while Ruby ignores her. Ruby flashes me a mega-watt smile and rushes over to where I'm standing,

"Sorry I took so long. I went to get Yang up so she can eat with us," Ruby say as she and the still grumbling Yang stops in front of me.

I shrug, "Okay, I suppose that's fine." I open the door and hold it open for the two sisters to enter first. As soon as the smell of bacon hits Yang, her groggy eyes snap open, and with a semi-loud cry of "BAAAAAACOOOON!", darts past me straight to the bacon, with Ruby not far behind her with a much louder cry of cookies. I follow the two with a chuckle. By the time I get my modest meal of toast, bacon, sausage, and eggs, Ruby and Yang both are both already sitting at a table with two full plates of cookies and bacon, respectively.

Setting my plate down across from Ruby, I raise an eyebrow as I watch her inhale a grand total of eight cookies in what must have been half a second. She looks up at me, as a light blush dusted her face. She proceeded to take a slower, more tentative bite from the cookie in her hand as Yang and I began to chuckle at her as we turned back to our plates.

I'm halfway done with my meal when I see a flash of red and bronze out of the corner of my eye. I look towards the entrance of the lunchroom and see Pyrrha enter, also in full armor. We lock eyes and I wave her over. She smiles walks over to us.

"Hello Nacht," She greets, taking a seat next to Ruby, who eyes then widen as she realizes who just sat next to her.

"Pyrrha," I reply with a nod, "How'd you sleep?"

"Well thank you," she says, then turns her head to look at Yang and Ruby, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

Yang sticks out her hand, "I'm Yang, and and the redhead stuffing her face with cookies is my baby sis Ruby"

Ruby swallows loudly, waves, then proceeds to chug half a gallon of milk.

Pyrrha blinks at them, "You look nothing alike."

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Ruby shrugs, "We're half sisters."

"Ah..."

We continue to talk for a while before we are interrupted by the intercom telling all first years to head to the cliffs. The three girls jump up, eyes wide in alarm.

"My weapons are still in my locker!" Pyrrha shouts, panicking.

"Ours too!"

I stand up also, "Alright girls, calm down-" I start

"Calm down! Calm down! We are going to be late for initiation! That's not exactly setting a good first impression to the teachers!" Ruby rants, jumping up onto the table and grabbing hold my shoulders, shaking me erratically.

I grab her arms to stop the shaking. I blink a few times to stop the spinning before picking her up off the table and placing her on the ground next to me.

"No, you're not going to be late. Just calm down and grab my arm." I tell them calmly.

Yang and Pyrrha look at me, confusion evident on their faces, while Ruby's eyes widen in excitement before she latches herself onto my left arm. The other two girls look at each other for a second before shrugging and grabbing a hold of my right.

I quickly Blink us to the lockers, the world around us distorting, for a second before snapping back into focus. The girls look around in astonishment.

"What was that?" Yang asks while grabbing her weapons out of her locker. Ruby and Pyrrha following her example while also listening to my answer.

"My semblance," I say, "I call it Blinking."

Suddenly, Ruby appears right in front of me, bouncing up and down, cradling a comically large scythe in her arms.

"You can teleport?! Oh my Oum that's soooo COOL!" She yells excitedly, still bouncing.

I stare at her, "Is that scythe?"

She finally stops bouncing, "Yep! This is my sweetheart, Crescent Rose. She's my pride and joy. I built her myself. She's also a high impact sniper rifle!" Ruby says, twirling the large weapon expertly around her body.

I whistle, "Impressive Red."

"Thanks!"

I hold out my arm again, "Alright girls, grab on. We are late enough already."

Ruby again latches onto my left arm while the other to grab my right. We arrive just in time to see the first person launched off the cliff. Goodwitch gives us a disapproving glare then gestures to the four unoccupied silver platforms. Ozpin just continues sipping his coffee, watching the hopefuls get launched off the cliff.

Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha all smile sheepishly and make their way over to the platforms, while I return Goodwitch's glare with a blank stare, my emotionless mask sliding into place. I step onto the platform without a word. I watch as Ruby, Yang, then finally Pyrrha get launched into the Emerald Forest. Right before I get launched, I realize that I have no idea what I'm looking for once I get down there.

"Hey Oz!" I yell over to Ozpin, "What am I looking for once I get down there?"

"A relic." is all he says before my platform launches me into the air and off the cliff.

I sigh and shake my head. I Blink down onto a tree branch then to the ground in quick succession.

I smile as I look around. Trees, trees, and more trees. Just how I like it. I switch Dusk into pistol form, keeping Dawn in it's axe form and start walking West.

After walking for about a half hour, I hear the sound of footsteps coming towards me at a fast pace, followed by trees snapping. I quickly Blink onto a tree. It's not long before I see Pyrrha come sprinting out of the bushes behind me, followed closely by the second biggest Deathstalker I've ever seen. It almost knocks the tree I'm in down. I quickly start to follow them, jumping from tree to tree.

This should be very interesting.

 **A/N: AAAAAAAAnd done. Finally. Sorry for taking so long. Life got in the way. Not to mention a killer case of Writer's Block and my own laziness. And I got engaged a few months ago. So yeah. Shit happens. Anyway, again, I would like to thank Fallen Shadow69 for his help. I ended on a cliffhanger, yes I know. Please don't kill me. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner. But as I said before, I'm a very busy person. Also, I'm going to need a beta if Anyone is up for it. So yeah, I hope you liked it, Follow, Favorite, And Review! Your Reviews give me inspiration to write! The more you Review, Quicker the chapters. Thanks bros! HotDog out!**

 **H.D.**


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